Welcome and Call to Order

The meeting will be called to the order.

Ascertain a Quorum

Approval of Agenda

Motion made by:                                 Roberta Walker

Motion seconded by:                           Maxine Wright 

Motion Carries:                                   Unanimous vote

Budget Hearing

Budget Hearing – C. Kayemba

Mr. Keyambe discussed the key highlights. The FY24 560FTE budget is balanced. Revenues will exceed total spending by $674k which equates to 8% for the net income to revenue ratio and b)18% growth of revenue. The plan is for the revenues to be at $8.9M next year. This is 6.6M General fund revenue and 2.3M Grant revenue. The difference is the increase in FTE. Last year’s budget was built on 480 FTE, this year’s budget proposal is built on 560 FTE.

The increase in grant revenue of 68% is the result of an extra $700k from ESSER III compared to what DPA had this year from ESSERII.

Total expenditures will be $8.2M with 6.1M allocated to personnel costs. Supplies and materials are at 611,636. This is a 279% increase based on the run rate derived from year-to-date April actual expenditures. Maintenance and repairs will be adjusted by 88% due to April actuals and new operational initiatives of $100K. DPA is projecting to close this year with $224K.  DPA is projecting to close FY24 with $674K-this is due to the increase in ESSER funds.

Opportunities-Mr. Kayemba gave an overview of opportunities to increase fiscal viability. Those opportunities will maximize funding through efficient data reporting, robust cost control management, needs analysis, set goals for fund balance

Risks-Mr. Kayemba reviewed some of the facts or events that make DPA not perform well financially. Those items include: legal risks from HR issues, high turnover rate, and complacency because of the cushion built in the budget. Mr. Kayemba reminded the board that the cushion provided by ESSER funds will not always be there.

Challenges of this budget-Mr. Kayemba discussed some of the limitations to this budget: inability to ensure sizeable growth in compensation for the personnel (salary, performance bonuses, etc.) and lack of sustainable funding to provide competitive benefits.

Mr. Kayemba gave an overview of the 480 FTE scenario. Total revenue would be decreased due to decrease funding. Total revenue would be $7,985,743. Total expenditures would be $7,938,812. Net income would come down to $46,931. This is the worst case scenario.

Mr. Kayemba gave an overview of Budget Rationale forms:

Increase in salary for instructional staff – 3% increase equates to 90.6K. This increase is to promote competitiveness for retention. Mr. Kayemba advised the board that DCSD is increasing to 6% COLA only. DPA is trying to increase to 3% to remain somewhat competitive vs. the 1.5% discussed before. The Treasurer raised the concern that this information has changed since the last presentation and is new to the board. Mr. Kayemba explained that this is a new development. DCSD is increasing to 6% COLA and step increase. The Board Chair reminded Mr. Kayemba that although this is a new development, the information must first be properly vetted by the Finance Committee. The Committee Chair cannot advocate to the board if the information has not gone to Finance Committee. Mr. Kayemba stated that, in light of this, DPA can go back to the 1.5% ($70K) instead of the 3% ($90K). The Board Chair reminded Mr. Kayemba that since DCSD has not yet approved the 6% COLA increase, that rationale could not be used as a measuring stick. Ms. Arnold cautioned that due diligence has to always been done when bringing information forward. Discussion regarding the sustainability to meet a 6% increase throughout employees retirement. Ms. Wilhite reminded the Board that a competitive salary analysis was requested and should be shared with the Head of School prior to presenting to the board. Mr. Kayemba clarified that DPA is proposing a 3% increase, not a 6% increase. Mr. Kayemba has conducted the salary analysis and looks forward to providing the information to the board. Ms. Walker asked clarifying questions regarding whether staff would still get step increase in addition to the COLA increase or just the 3% COLA. Mr. Kayemba stated that this would replace the step increase. Ms. Wilhite asked clarifying questions about the percentage of step increases and the movement within steps. Discussion regarding whether a 1.5% step increase across the board is sustainable. Mr. Kayemba stated that this increase would not be based on ESSER funds but solely on FTE funding. Ms. Wilhite stated that movement on the step is one action and the COLA increase is a separate action.

Increase in salary for non-instructional staff would increase the budget by an additional $328K. Rationale is the same as with instructional staff. There are 2 categories of non-instructional staff-School Administration and Central Office Administration. School administration staff increased due to some of the roles not being included in the budget last year (i.e., maintenance personnel, resource officer, MTSS/RTI Coordinator). Central Office Administration salary costs are driven by the new role of the Director of Strategic Initiatives and the raise in the Head of School position. Reconciliation is needed to ensure that there is a dollar amount allocated for each role.

Robust discussion regarding staff miscoding issues by Accounting. Recommendations were made by board members as to how the details should be presented. The goal should be to present information in a way that most provides as much information as possible to alleviate any misunderstanding. Mr. Kayemba stated that there is information that he needs to share with the board but he could not place in the Dropbox due to confidentiality. Per the board, if confidential information needs to be shared with the board, the personal information should be de-identified.

Increase for supplies and materials by $450k (Academic)

The budget was very low last year compared to the level of spending. This is a line item that is adjusted according to the run rate derived by the year-to-date input actuals. The FY23 budget did not show that school is now in-person vs virtual. Mr. Kayemba will add a listing of the academic supplies and materials.

Increase in operational spending by $215.1K. This is driven by the level of spending thus far this year. This is also driven by $100k in new operational initiatives. There is still $75k left to spend from the grant. Discussion regarding the reduce operational spending from $199k to $100K by the Leadership Team. Thus, the board will only need to approve $25K. Ms. Wilhite clarified that the request from the board was to show the spreadsheet with the 2023 budget and the changes and then the budget for 2024. Discussion regarding how the requests should be presented to the board for consideration and approval. Decisions will need to be made regarding whether the $25K should come from FTE or if there needs to be a revised budget rationale.

Mr. Kayemba reiterated that the surplus of $674K is driven by ESSER funding. Discussion regarding FTE funding and budget sustainability when the ESSER funding goes away next year. Board wants to know what the plan is when ESSER funding goes away. Mr. Kayemba that the sustainability plan is a priority and the plan is going to be worked on internally. Ms. Arnold explained that this plan is expected to be included in the Reauthorization document that is due in a few months. The Reauthorization document has to include whether ESSER funded positions will be kept and how they will be funded.

Budget rationale forms were presented for the 480 FTE instructional staff and non-instructional staff utilizing the same reasoning. The increase in the level of spending is for the same reason. The academic supplies and materials listing will be included. Operational spending for nutrition will still need to be increased due to light budgeting last year. Discussion regarding nutrition numbers increasing when there are fewer students. Mr. Kayemba explained that fewer students equates to less spending for the nutrition program also, even though spending decreases, there are higher expenses in contracted services based on April actuals. Mr. Kayemba will provide a 480 FTE budget revenue update. Ms. Arnold stated that a budget is a plan. The plan has to address how the school will be able to survive if things were to go sideways. If revenues went down, how much money could the school survive off of-realistically. Fixed costs will not change but how would you adjust those variable costs. Robust discussion regarding looking at the actual costs to run the school for 480 FTE scenario and for 560 FTE scenario.

Mr. Kayemba will provide the list of contracts to the board via the Dropbox. The contracts must be reviewed and approved by the board each year prior to being included in the budget.

Public Comment

None

Adjournment from the Budget Hearing

Motion made by:                                 Roberta Walker

Motion seconded by:                           Maxine Wright 

Motion Carries:                                   Unanimous vote

The Meeting was Adjourned

The meeting adjourned at approximately 6:34 pm